Economy · Chart
On the official measure, Cape Town no longer has the lowest unemployment of the big cities
35.9% Johannesburg · Highest
Cape Town is at 21.9%, just behind eThekwini (Durban) at 21.2%. Both are far below Johannesburg’s 35.9%.
From our storiesWhat are Cape Town biggest challenges in 2026?Read the full story →
Method and sources
Each bar is a metro's strict unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2026, as reported in the article. The strict rate counts only people who looked for work in the reference period.
eThekwini 21.2%, Cape Town 21.9%, Buffalo City 30.5%, Mangaung 33.0%, Nelson Mandela Bay 33.1%, Tshwane 34.2%, Ekurhuleni 34.6%, Johannesburg 35.9%, South Africa national 33.6%.
The article notes that Cape Town's rate rose from just under 20% in the final quarter of 2025 and 21.4% in the first quarter of 2026, and that employment fell to 1.843 million.
The period is the survey quarter, 1 April to 30 June 2026. The release date was 11 August 2026.
Sources: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey Q2 2026 (P0211), Table 2.3 (https://www.statssa.gov.za/)
Figures as published in our article on Cape Town's biggest challenges in 2026 (chart last checked 14 September 2026): Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey Q2 2026, Table 2.3. Link to the publisher, not the exact table.
Chart updated · 14 Oct 2026. The observation dates above describe the data, not today’s conditions.
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The Western Cape took 360,347 of South Africa's 404,712 net new jobs in five years
360,347net new jobs Western Cape · Highest
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Nine in every ten of the country’s extra jobs were in one province, which has about an eighth of the population.
Source: Statistics South Africa · All bars start at zero
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36% Hospitals · Highest
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Source: Council for Medical Schemes · All bars start at zero
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223,000R April 2026 · Highest
Select a bar to inspect its value.
The limit goes up with inflation every April. From April 2026 it is R223,000.
Source: National Treasury · All bars start at zero